It has become clear that, no matter which party you ascribe to, when something popular in the political world comes along, everyone jumps on board to try to get votes.

Bring out the Tea Party. When it first arrived on the political scene as a response to the ‘tyranny’ of the Obama administration, it wasn’t seen as much more than a bunch of unorganized people gathering in the streets dressed as revolutionary-era orators and soldiers. They shouted about tyranny and taxes, unfair majorities, and abundant wastes of tax-payer dollars by the federal government. Most importantly, the pundits and politicians didn’t seem to take them seriously.

Flash forward a year to fall of 2010. The mid-term elections are upon us and it seems that the only thing people can talk about is the Tea Party. They have suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, become the strongest movement in this election. Obama is trying to assuage the largest part of the Tea Party, the middle class, by proposing to extend what Marlene Y. Satter describes as “Bush-era tax cuts for those making under $200,000 (individuals)/$250,000 (families), while allowing the tax cuts for those in higher income brackets to expire at the end of the year.”

The GOP seems to see right through the gimmick, however, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said that a Republican vote for this tax increase for the wealthy was out of the question. Additionally, The Washington Post reports that “House Democrats remain deeply divided over the issue, with a raft of vulnerable Democrats signalling growing resistance to raising taxes in an election year.” So, the president’s last-minute attempt to win some Tea Party votes appears more transparent than he promised his presidency would be.

It is obvious from the above that both sides are trying to use the latest political fad to their advantage this fall. We will have to wait and see whether the most recent political movement has the power to drastically change congress, although I doubt it will be the landslide many pundits are predicting.

My first week in Washington, DC has opened my eyes to what most refer to as “the real world”. The professionals in this city are just that: professional. I have spoken with many interesting people in my first week here and have learned a great deal about a variety of topics. I learned about city life, job hunting, networking, legislating, lobbying, and more.

The first thing I was met with when I arrived, and am constantly reminded of, are the constraints and restrictions that come with both renting and apartment and living in the city. Some restrictions are written down, such as how many people are allowed in a room or not being able to consume food and drink on the Metro. Other rules, perhaps the more important ones, aren’t written at all. These are the unspoken rituals; consisting of unwritten codes of conduct, constraints, rules, and schedules of Washingtonian life. One that I knew before from my many visits to this city is the walk left, stand right escalator rule. This is possibly the most important rule to know when commuting or traveling in DC. After that, important, unspoken rules include: dress nicely at all times (this is a professional city, after all), walk quickly wherever you go (preferably with a cup of coffee in one hand and a briefcase in the other), don’t wait for the walk/stop sign to change before walking, don’t walk in the middle of the sidewalk, and always have business cards at the ready.

My internship is very interesting. I intern for The Potomac Advocates, a lobbying firm in Washington, DC for DoD and Homeland Security related fields. I do a good bit of research in these fields as well as preparing presentations, reports, and distributing pamphlets for lobbying purposes. It is very challenging at times, and I learn something every day. I hope the rest of my internship is as exciting and challenging as I hope it will be.